Written Answers Thursday 30 March 2006

Scottish Executive

Antisocial Behaviour

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which police forces it considers have successfully implemented the antisocial behaviour legislation in relation to seizure of vehicles and warnings to drivers.

Hugh Henry: A number of police forces, including Fife Constabulary, are leading the way using not only the seizure of vehicles provisions, but other measures in the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act. This has helped bring relief and respite to their communities.

  Clearly antisocial behaviour does not recognise local boundaries and therefore we have monitoring systems in place to ensure that the act’s provisions are used effectively across Scotland.

Apprenticeships

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether apprentices funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise are paid less than if they were funded by Scottish Enterprise and, if so, why.

Allan Wilson: All modern apprentices are employed and therefore their wages are a matter between them and their employers. We do not hold this information and it is likely to vary from employer to employer. Although contribution rates for modern apprenticeship frameworks vary between Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, this has no direct bearing on the amount employers pay apprentices as this funding goes towards offsetting the training costs.

Care of Elderly People

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals are awaiting a community care needs assessment in each local authority area.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time has been for a community care needs assessment in each year since the introduction of free personal care, broken down by local authority area.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time has been between individuals’ community care needs assessments and receipt of payments towards personal care in each year since the introduction of free personal care, broken down by local authority area.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities provide a frozen-meals delivery service as standard to vulnerable, frail and elderly people.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken into the social and medical impact on vulnerable, frail and elderly people of the replacement of a meals-on-wheels service with a frozen-meals service.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has not carried out any such research and is not aware of any other research into the social and medical impact of a frozen meals service.

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek views on the impact of replacing daily hot meals with frozen meals during its Strategy for an Ageing Population consultation.

Lewis Macdonald: The consultation on the Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population has six broad ranging questions, and does not ask about any particular existing service. However, it encourages respondents to contribute their views on a wide range of topics, including the provision of services.

Climate Change

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its new Climate Change Programme.

Ross Finnie: Scotland’s new Climate Change Programme, Changing our  Ways (Bib. number 39288), will be published today. It brings together new and strengthened policies across all the key sectors and provides a framework for further action. The new programme defines the Scottish Share of UK climate change commitments in carbon terms for the first time. It also sets an ambitious Scottish Target to exceed this share by an additional reduction of 1 million tonnes of carbon in 2010.

Drug Misuse

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the final evaluation of the drug court pilots in Glasgow and Fife and what plans there are for the future of these courts.

Hugh Henry: The final evaluation of the Glasgow and Fife drug courts will be published today and can be accessed at the following weblinks:

  Report. http://sh45inta/Resource/Doc/100021/0024203.pdf.

  Research Findings http://sh45inta/Resource/Doc/47121/0020290.pdf.

  The report is broadly positive, finding that a sizeable proportion of individuals made subject to Drug Court Orders were able to achieve and sustain reductions in drug use and associated offending behaviour. The report also states that offenders who completed their orders had fewer convictions in the two years after being made subject to an order than in the two years immediately before, and that there was and is widespread support for the drug courts both from those working within them and from other criminal justice professionals, such as sheriffs sitting in other courts.

  On the basis of the report, I have decided that both drug courts will now continue. They will operate a composite model that will embrace the strengths of both existing models. The position of the drug courts will then be reviewed in three years time against the progress made with the summary justice reforms.

  There are, however, clear lessons to be learned from the success of the drug courts – about successful multi-agency working, about working to shared agendas and about the benefits of adopting a problem solving approach to delivery. We will apply these lessons across Scotland and will take them forward through the reducing reoffending agenda and through the summary justice reforms. At present there is no plan for further drug courts given the national coverage of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders - disposals which incorporate the most important features of the drug court and which have been shown to have success in dealing with this client group.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were recommended rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addictions by children’s panels in each of the last five years and what the average waiting times were between referral and treatment.

Robert Brown: This is a matter for local authorities and health authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

Enterprise

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support family businesses.

Allan Wilson: Family-run businesses, like all businesses in Scotland, are benefiting from the Executive’s record investment in infrastructure, health, education and skills, along with the steps we are taking to reduce business rates and reform the planning system.

  Scottish Enterprise also supports the Scottish Family Business Association in its work to improve the longevity and sustain the growth of Scotland’s family businesses.

Equal Opportunities

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it collects about discrimination and inequalities experienced by ethnic minorities in the labour market.

George Lyon: The Labour Force Survey provides information on employment and ethnicity that allows for an ethnic breakdown of employment indicators. The estimates for ethnic minorities are based on very small samples and so statistics on ethnic minorities are often not very reliable.

Foster Care

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to spend the underspend in its foster care budget.

Robert Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23427 on 1 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how quickly cases of compensation for mesothelioma suffers are now being dealt with by the Scottish courts following changes to the handling of such cases; how many mesothelioma cases are currently being progresses and how many asbestos-related cases not involving a diagnosis of mesothelioma remain outstanding in Scottish courts.

Hugh Henry: In cases of mesothelioma, the waiting period in the Court of Session from the lodging of defences to allocation of proof is currently 46 weeks – within the period of 12/13 months recommended by Lord Coulsfield.

  There are currently 88 mesothelioma related cases being progressed and there are 281 asbestos related cases not involving a diagnosis of mesothelioma outstanding in the Court of Session.

Local Government

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to alter the structure of local government.

Mr Tom McCabe: We have no current plans to alter the structure of local government.

Mental Health

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to public bodies in respect of the recruitment of people with mental health problems.

Lewis Macdonald: No guidance has been issued by the Scottish Executive to public bodies, or to any employer, in respect of the recruitment of people with mental health problems.

  People with mental health problems may be protected from discrimination in relation to employment by the provisions contained in the Disability Discrimination (DDA) Act 1995, if they meet the definition of disability in the act.

Mental Health

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it and public bodies monitor the recruitment of people with mental health problems.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive participates in the Positive about Disabled People scheme. Staff and applicants to the Scottish Executive are invited to self-declare any disability, physical or mental, that they may have both during the recruitment process and in the workplace. The Executive monitors those applicants and staff who have self-declared a disability throughout the recruitment process and their career.

  The recruitment of people with mental health problems by public bodies is not currently monitored by the Scottish Executive. It is for individual public bodies to monitor their own recruitment practices in accordance with employment law.

Mental Health

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were recommended help in dealing with mental health problems by children’s panels in each of the last five years and what the average waiting times were between referral and treatment.

Robert Brown: This is a matter for local authorities and health authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about NHS boards seeking to "poach" nursing staff from other NHS boards within Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS boards are encouraged to have complimentary workforce strategies so that the net workforce capacity for the NHS in Scotland is increased. Staff "poaching" as a result of recruitment activities in one area having a consequence on the workforce in another has not been a national issue until now.

  Indeed, competition between NHS board employers in Scotland has been markedly less since Government policy has been to encourage co-operation within healthcare sector and avoid the wasteful tensions created by independent NHS trusts and the need to have local pay bargaining.

  Many services today are planned on a regional basis. This also requires the workforce to be planned accordingly to deliver these services at a local level. This requires NHS boards and regions to work collaboratively in developing solutions to workforce pressures across NHSScotland.

  However, the Health Department is aware that NHS Lothian Nurse Recruitment Service arranged a series of "Open Days" at various locations across Scotland. The boards recruitment team were fully briefed and understood that this was an opportunity to not only recruit to Lothian but also to highlight vacant nursing posts across the NHS in Scotland.

  The local NHS boards in each of the areas of the proposed events were also invited to attend to support recruitment within their area by the NHS Lothian Nurse Recruitment Service. The event was also supported by the RCN, who sent representation to every venue.

Planning

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the identification of sites for major mineral extractions will be included in the proposed national planning framework and, if so, whether the framework will make requirements of individual local authorities in this regard.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill includes provisions requiring planning authorities to take the national planning authority into account in preparing development plans. It does not prescribe the types of development which may be included in a future national planning framework. No decisions have yet been taken on the content of the second national planning framework.

Planning

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities charged with identifying sites for infrastructural or other major developments under the proposed national planning framework will be required to determine planning applications for such developments on their merits, with no reference to other potential locations, or whether they will be able to require applicants to demonstrate that applications have been lodged in respect of the optimum locations for such developments.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is intended that the identification of a development as a "national development" will establish the need for the development in principle. It will still be open to the planning authority to address locational questions in considering development plan policies and planning applications for such developments.

Prison Service

Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to implement recommendations arising from recent report on conditions at Perth prison.

Cathy Jamieson: Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons recommendations related mainly to work that was currently planned including building work underway. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) produced an action plan in response to these recommendations. A copy has been published on the SPS website.

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-22921 and S2W-22923 by Colin Boyd QC on 14 March 2006 and Hugh Henry on 27 and 23 February 2006 respectively and following its news release on 14 March 2006 on re-investing the proceeds of crime, whether funding obtained from criminal gains recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 will, in future, be allocated to local projects in Dumfries and Galloway in recognition of the high levels of drug misuse in the region, highlighted in Estimating the National and Local Prevalence of Problem Drug Use in Scotland, 2003, published in January 2005.

Hugh Henry: As outlined in the news release on 14 March 2006, we have decided to target initial reinvestment of assets recovered under the Proceeds of Crime legislation in the six local authority areas which suffer most serious violent crime, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. However, where recovery in respect of an individual exceeds £0.5 million arrangements will be put in place to enable reinvestment in the specific communities where the individual has strong links – the main area of their criminality.

Regulation of Care

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints of (a) abuse, (b) neglect and (c) malnourishment of older people in care homes have been made to the Care Commission in each year since it was established.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints made to the Care Commission have resulted in formal enforcement action being taken in each year since it was established.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many care homes for older people have failed to achieve the national care standards for nutrition and food since the standards were introduced.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for the Care Commission who can be contacted at Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY.

Regulation of Care

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing legislation to give the Care Commission a statutory duty to inform local authorities of (a) all complaints made against care homes within their areas and (b) the outcomes of the investigations of such complaints.

Lewis Macdonald: I am aware that the Care Commission’s complaints procedure is one of the issues being considered by the Health Committee as part of its review of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 . I will await the report from the committee and consider any other views before considering what action, if any, is required.

  Arrangements are in place which allow the Care Commission to inform local authorities of complaints in care homes or other care services. Where there are indications of abuse or neglect or allegations of an offence the Care Commission will inform the relevant agencies immediately on receipt of the complaint. The commission is developing agreements with local authorities and health boards which set out arrangements for sharing information.

  Where the outcome of a complaint leads to formal enforcement action this will be included in the care service provider’s next inspection report and will be followed up by the Care Commission as part of the inspection process. The commission also has a statutory duty to copy all formal improvement notices to the local authority in whose area the service is provided.

Regulation of Care

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23390 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 March 2006, whether the Minister for Health and Community Care will issue guidance to the Care Commission to ensure that all the information it has gathered on allegations of abuse, neglect and malnutrition is disseminated to all appropriate authorities.

Lewis Macdonald: We have no plans to issue guidance to the Care Commission about dissemination of information. The arrangements that are already in place, along with the agreements that are being developed by the Care Commission with local authorities and health boards, will ensure that relevant information can be shared.

Supporting People

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Supporting People funding has been allocated to each local authority for (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06, (d) 2006-07 and (e) 2007-08, showing any year-on-year percentage changes.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table gives details of Supporting People funding allocations from 2003-04 to 2007-08.

  Expenditure by each local authority in any year may vary from that allocated, depending on actual service provision commitments and any funding which the Scottish Executive may allow local authorities to carry forward from the previous year.

  Supporting People Allocations with Percentage Changes Between Years

  

 Council
 2003-04
 2004-05
 % Change
 2005-06
 % Change
 2006-07
 % Change
 2007-08
 % Change


£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million
£ Million


 Aberdeen City
 12.306
 12.306
 0.0
 12.351
 0.4
 11.881
 -3.8
 11.882
 0.0


 Aberdeenshire
 9.375
 9.375
 0.0
 9.790
 4.4
 9.440
 -3.6
 9.707
 2.8


 Angus
 6.404
 6.404
 0.0
 6.449
 0.7
 6.460
 0.2
 6.688
 3.5


 Argyll and Bute
 16.598
 14.900
 -10.2
 13.782
 -7.5
 13.261
 -3.8
 12.222
 -7.8


 Clackmannanshire
 3.093
 3.093
 0.0
 3.093
 0.0
 3.242
 4.8
 3.851
 18.8


 Dumfries and Galloway
 15.079
 15.079
 0.0
 14.300
 -5.2
 13.420
 -6.2
 12.368
 -7.8


 Dundee City
 11.672
 11.672
 0.0
 11.715
 0.4
 11.748
 0.3
 12.055
 2.6


 East Ayrshire
 6.184
 6.184
 0.0
 6.184
 0.0
 6.464
 4.5
 7.609
 17.7


 East Dunbartonshire
 5.528
 5.528
 0.0
 5.697
 3.1
 5.237
 -8.1
 5.238
 0.0


 East Lothian
 9.366
 9.366
 0.0
 8.802
 -6.0
 8.336
 -5.3
 7.683
 -7.8


 East Renfrewshire
 6.258
 6.258
 0.0
 5.843
 -6.6
 5.570
 -4.7
 5.134
 -7.8


 Edinburgh, City of
 44.695
 44.695
 0.0
 41.372
 -7.4
 39.778
 -3.9
 36.661
 -7.8


 Eilean Siar
 0.357
 0.357
 0.0
 0.581
 62.8
 0.585
 0.7
 0.593
 1.4


 Falkirk
 8.275
 8.275
 0.0
 8.290
 0.2
 8.439
 1.8
 9.109
 7.9


 Fife
 28.332
 28.332
 0.0
 26.384
 -6.9
 24.560
 -6.9
 24.561
 0.0


 Glasgow City
 71.766
 71.766
 0.0
 75.454
 5.1
 73.159
 -3.0
 78.852
 7.8


 Highland
 13.891
 13.891
 0.0
 13.100
 -5.7
 11.728
 -10.5
 11.728
 0.0


 Inverclyde
 8.123
 8.123
 0.0
 8.151
 0.3
 7.684
 -5.7
 7.685
 0.0


 Midlothian
 6.071
 6.071
 0.0
 5.628
 -7.3
 5.404
 -4.0
 4.981
 -7.8


 Moray
 6.920
 6.920
 0.0
 6.401
 -7.5
 6.159
 -3.8
 5.677
 -7.8


 North Ayrshire
 14.705
 14.705
 0.0
 13.680
 -7.0
 12.242
 -10.5
 12.066
 -1.4


 North Lanarkshire
 24.846
 24.846
 0.0
 24.845
 0.0
 25.045
 0.8
 25.862
 3.3


 Orkney Islands
 0.357
 0.357
 0.0
 0.357
 0.0
 0.422
 18.2
 0.689
 63.3


 Perth and Kinross
 6.226
 6.226
 0.0
 6.286
 1.0
 6.395
 1.7
 7.086
 10.8


 Renfrewshire
 18.347
 18.347
 0.0
 20.976
 14.3
 16.329
 -22.2
 15.049
 -7.8


 Scottish Borders
 5.956
 5.956
 0.0
 5.956
 0.0
 5.750
 -3.5
 5.751
 0.0


 Shetland Islands
 0.788
 0.788
 0.0
 0.788
 -0.1
 0.815
 3.4
 0.926
 13.6


 South Ayrshire
 8.172
 8.172
 0.0
 8.712
 6.6
 7.975
 -8.5
 7.975
 0.0


 South Lanarkshire
 23.421
 23.421
 0.0
 24.031
 2.6
 22.333
 -7.1
 22.333
 0.0


 Stirling
 3.800
 3.800
 0.0
 3.988
 5.0
 3.966
 -0.6
 4.649
 17.2


 West Dunbartonshire
 19.397
 17.500
 -9.8
 16.353
 -6.6
 15.575
 -4.8
 14.355
 -7.8


 West Lothian
 9.761
 9.761
 0.0
 10.184
 4.3
 9.783
 -3.9
 9.871
 0.9


 Scotland
 426.070
 422.475
 -0.8
 419.523
 -0.7
 399.185
 -4.8
 400.896
 0.4

Wildlife

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive , further to the answer to question S2W-20252 by Ross Finnie 0n 14 November, whether, in light of the 7 September 2004 judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Waddenzee case, it considers that commercial scallop dredging in the Firth of Lorne Special Area of Conservation is, or should be, treated as a plan or project within the meaning of Article 6.3 of the 1992 EC Habitats and Species Directive, notwithstanding the minister’s position that the issue of licences to fishing vessels is not subject to Regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is considering the implications of the Waddenzee judgement by the European Court both in general terms with regard to fishing and specifically in relation to the Firth of Lorn marine Special Area of Conservation. Once we have come to a view on those implications, including the issue in this question, we shall discuss the matter further with the European Commission.

Wildlife

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, under regulation 3 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, to secure compliance with the requirements of the European Habitats Directive in relation to the potential impacts of commercial scallop dredging on the Firth of Lorne Special Area of Conservation.

Ross Finnie: The Firth of Lorn as a designated Special Area of Conservation is subject to regular site condition monitoring by Scottish Natural Heritage to ensure that the site interests remain in favourable condition. The Scottish Executive is currently considering whether specific further steps may be required for this site to ensure compliance with the Habitats Directive.

Wildlife

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current estimate is for the total cost of completing the eradication of hedgehogs from the Uists and Benbecula.

Rhona Brankin: These are matters which are within the operational responsibility of Scottish Natural Heritage. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Natural Heritage to write to you and for a copy of his reply to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39287).

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Accommodation

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what contingency plans are in place should the debating chamber be temporarily unavailable.

George Reid: The SPCB adopted contingency plans for the loss of the Holyrood Chamber in September 2005, following a report by officials on alternative venues considered or used by the parliament since 1999. These plans address the implications of using various alternative venues for meetings which would otherwise be held in the debating chamber. Contingency plans identify the facilities available at a number of them and the staffing and other resources required to procure, set up and run meetings at those alternative venues.